


heat of the moment

by orphan_account



Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Canon Compliant, Canon-Typical Violence, Established Relationship, M/M, Marriage Proposal
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-02-20
Updated: 2018-02-20
Packaged: 2019-03-21 19:27:12
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,884
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/13747686
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/orphan_account/pseuds/orphan_account
Summary: Keith and Shiro find themselves in the midst of battle, wounded, weary, and quite possibly without a way out. Keith figures this is as good a time as any to pop the question.





	heat of the moment

**Author's Note:**

> written for @sniperette for the @sheithlentines exchange

Arms crossed tightly over his chest, Keith watches Pidge point out key points in the schematics of the Galra cruiser patrolling along the route dividing rebel territory and the borders of the Empire. It’s a quick rundown, nothing detailed or planned. The cruiser wasn’t supposed to be there, so they’re having to rework their strategy.

A restlessness creeps through his veins, and a pit makes its home in his stomach. This is impulsive, even for him. It’s too sudden, too many holes, too many places where things can go wrong—

“Keith?”

He starts at Shiro’s gentle inquiry, cutting his gaze to Shiro’s concerned look. “Mm?”

“What do you think?” Shiro repeats, gesturing to the holographic schematics. “You’ve been quiet.”

Keith uncrosses his arms to clench his fists beside him. He looks directly at Shiro. “I think it’s the most idiotic thing we’ve ever thought about doing.”

Predictably, Lance feels the need to interject an opposing stance on principle, and Pidge looks incredulous, her eyes saying _That’s rich, coming from you._ Hunk is agreeing with him enthusiastically, while Allura continues to look pensive as her eyes scan the schematics. Shiro just smiles fondly at him.

“There’s not really much else we _can_ do!” Lance says, exasperated. He gestures broadly to the schematics, as if that’s going to convince Keith to change his mind. “No one saw this coming, so we’ve got to improvise! Isn’t that what you’re always doing, anyway?”

Keith doesn’t miss the accusation of hypocrisy, but he doesn’t budge. “Impulsivity is one thing,” he says, “this is just straight up stupidity. There’s no way they’re not expecting us. They’ll have an entire fleet here in doboshes before we even get close!”

“I’ve been working to extend the cloaking ability of Green to all of Voltron,” Pidge offers, adjusting her glasses. “I can give us about ten minutes before it wears off. We’d at least get in.”

“I-I don’t know, guys,” Hunk interjects, twisting his fingers together nervously. “I’m with Keith on this one. That’s one of the recent upgraded models of cruisers—its gunpower is at least three times that of the usual cruiser. This is just _asking_ to be blown back across the galaxy.”

“Thank you, Hunk,” Keith says emphatically.

“Keith,” Shiro says, and Keith looks over at him, full of fury.

“No, Shiro,” he says, vehement. “This is a suicide mission. I’m not—I can’t—” He bites his lip and looks away. _I can’t watch you do this. I can’t watch you be the martyr. Not again._

In a rare moment of mercy, Shiro doesn’t say anything. He presses his lips together, obviously disapproving, but he understands. If it were Keith going in there as the distraction, going in to face the heart of it, he’d be arguing against it, too. They’re predictable like that.

“Keith,” Allura says, quietly. Keith bites his lip and doesn’t turn to her. He doesn’t want to hear what she’s going to say next. “We can’t put the life of one paladin above the whole of the rebellion. Not now.”

_The life of one for the lives of many._ Keith gets it, he does. It’s his own code, in a way. Sacrifice one life so more can live to fight another day. It makes the most sense in the bigger picture that is war.

Just not Shiro’s life.

Keith is quiet again before stating, “I’m going with him.”

Allura’s expression says _Of course you are_ as she turns away from him, and Lance may actually say it out loud, he’s not sure, because he’s looking at Shiro, defiant, chin up in challenge— _make me stay,_ he says without saying anything, and the way Shiro shakes his head, not in denial, but in an accepting sort of exasperation, says he understands.

Pidge looks less than surprised as she adjusts her glasses. “You’ll need to get in through the hangar on the far side, closest to the planet from where we are now. As soon as you’re in, we need you to go to town and create as much chaos as you can. Just long enough for us to get the Castle and the other Lions by with minimal damage.”

“Too bad we can’t just form Voltron,” Hunk laments, and they all stand for a moment of silence. With the Empire’s new ability to literally pinpoint them any time they form Voltron, it’s just easier to only use it when all other options have been determined useless.

Which is also what this particular extraction is about: the guy they’re after is supposed to be able to help them take out this new Voltron Tracker.

“Well, gents,” Coran says, after a longer moment of quiet. “Time to suit up and head out, wouldn’t you say?”

 

The wall next to him explodes just as Keith ducks out of the way, throwing himself behind a pile of rubble. He just avoids another laser shot, rolling up and throwing his bayard into the chest of one of the sentries. He feels the warm wetness of blood beginning to roll down his face and clot in his hair—his helmet is lost somewhere in the fray, crushed and cracked.

“SHIRO!” he shouts, coughing. Another foot soldier is coming at him, and he makes a dash for his bayard, scooping it up just in time to parry an attack.

“KEITH! WHERE ARE YOU?”

He grunts, throwing the soldier off him and thrusting his bayard through the soldier’s chest. He drops with a heavy thud and a squelch as he bayard comes free, and Keith turns on his heel. He surveys the room, eyes darting over the crumbling bridge, the red blaring alarms, searching.

There—

He takes off, ducking under the sentries and soldiers in the way, and leaps over a collapsed part of floor to where Shiro is fist deep in sentry of his own.

“Shiro!” Keith pants as he shoves his bayard through a sentry coming up behind Shiro on his blindside. He sucks in a sharp breath, pulling his bayard free as the sentry drops, and wraps a hand around his side. It’s probably bruised, if he’s lucky.

Shiro backs up against him as they catch their breaths in a rare moment of stillness. Keith listens to the hum of his Galra arm, a soothing familiarity in the chaos. The heat from his body warms Keith, and he leans against Shiro heavily as a wave of exhaustion washes over him.

“Keith!” Shiro breaths, catching him, holding him up. “You okay, buddy?”

Keith nods, panting hard. He’s so tired. “Have you heard anything from Pidge or the others? How are they doing?”

Shiro is helmet-less too, but Keith thinks it happened after his own was lost. Shiro shakes his head, adjusting Keith in his arms to take more of his weight. “They were just getting into the lab when I lost communication. I don’t know anything after that.”

The cruiser is falling to pieces around them, alarms blaring, shouting from every corner from guards and sentries and soldiers. If nothing else, Keith and Shiro managed to take it out from the inside, so as soon as it’s fully down, the others will be in the free and clear. They just have to hold out hope that the others will remember to come and get them before they die a horrible death in the vacuum of space.

_We could die._

The thought hits Keith, and he takes another shuddering breath, but it’s not the physical pain this time. It’s a deeper kind of pain, a visceral, spear-point sting that spreads like ice through his veins. It freezes him to the spot and makes him numb as the weight of it crashes over him.

_Shiro could die._

“Keith?”

He looks up at Shiro’s worried expression, so full of concern and caring as he gently keeps Keith on his feet. That look combats the ice spreading through him, filling him with an answering love as he gazes back, dripping in blood and drawing ragged breaths through the hole in his lungs.

“Marry me,” he breathes, free hand gripping Shiro’s arm tight. Shiro blinks, eyes comically wide, mouth falling open, and Keith pushes on. “Marry me, Shiro. If we make it out of this, let’s get married. I don’t want to live the rest of my life thinking I have time to make it happen later.”

Shiro stutters over his words. “K-Keith, I—”

“We might not make it out of this,” Keith says, stopping his words. “And if we don’t, well. At least I can die knowing you would have, if we could have.”

Shiro’s expression falls into something soft and yearning, so fond it makes Keith’s knees weaker than they already are. He cups Keith’s cheek, smearing the blood still running down his cheek, and presses their heads together.

“You know I would,” he says quietly, just for them in the destruction and chaos around them. He pulls away, and he looks fierce. Determined. “We’re getting out of here. They’ll come get us, and we’ll have that wedding. Okay?”

“Under the stars, right?” Keith smiles.

Shiro smiles back and kisses him gently. “Under the stars, in an open field, just our friends and those closest to us. Quiet and simple. Just like you want, baby.”

Keith kisses back until he has to pull away, gritting his teeth at the sharp stab of pain in his side. Too enthusiastic. “I don’t have a ring,” he feels compelled to say.

“That’s fine,” Shiro assures him with a shake of his head. He brushes a strand of Keith’s hair from his eyes. “We’ll find something. We’ll make do, like always.”

Another wall crashes down around them, and the alarms keep blaring, and there’s still shouting in the distance. Keith pulls Shiro into another kiss.

They pull apart at the roar of a Lion echoing around them, closing in. Keith grins, and Shiro smiles back.

“Lance gets to be your best man,” Keith tells him. “I want Pidge.”

“Hey, no fair! I want Pidge as best man.”

“Too bad. I called dibs.”

“You can’t call dibs on a person, Keith! Maybe Pidge wants to be my best man!”

“Please. Pidge will absolutely want to be my best man. And Lance will want to be yours.”

“How do you know?”

“Because you’re Takashi Shirogane.”

“What are you guys arguing about?” Pidge’s voice cuts through to them as she uses her jet pack to float in to them. “Why is Lance going to want to be Shiro’s best man?”

Keith huffs as Shiro helps him over to the Green Lion. “We’re getting married. You’re going to be my best man.”

“Well, duh,” Pidge says, and Keith smirks at Shiro’s defeated expression. “Lance will definitely be Shiro’s. And Hunk will cater. I wonder what kind of customs and rituals go into Altean weddings. Do you think they’re similar to Earth’s? Do you think Coran would preside if we asked? Do Alteans have to be, like, licensed to do it?”

Her questions continue as they regroup with the others on the Castle. Keith keeps hold of Shiro’s hand, leaning against his shoulder. Shiro presses a kiss to the top of his head.

This is good. They’re alive and they’re getting married.

Keith closes his eyes and falls asleep to Pidge’s voice and Shiro’s warmth.

**Author's Note:**

> i love will turner-style proposals ok
> 
>  
> 
> come yell about these babies with me on [tumblr!](http://duscaenorange.tumblr.com)


End file.
